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Automotive designer Sergio Pininfarina passed away in July of this year, but there is every reason to believe that the memory of the vehicles he created will never die. That prediction is bolstered by the fact that he designed more than 100 Ferraris, and that the Ferrari Museum has just put 22 of them on display in Maranello in The Great Ferraris of Sergio Pininfarina Exhibition.

Sergio didn't 'retire' from the chairmanship of the design house the wore the family name until 2006 (he took the role of honorary chairman after that, until his death this year), but he first put his pen to work for Ferrari with the 1952 Inter Cabriolet. Since then, right through to the F12 Berlinetta, Pininfarina was responsible for a heart-melting procession of cars, which kept the enthusiasts' attention on Maranello, and brought new definitions to words like "Italian," "scarlet," "racecar for the road" and "playboy."

The exhibit is open now and runs until January 7, 2013. The various samples of Sergio's work are broken up into race, road and concept cars and span the decades from the 250 LM to the 599 SA Aperta. A couple of videos and a press release below go into more detail, and no, it's not too early to ask Santa for a trip to Italy.

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The great Ferraris of Sergio Pininfarina Exhibition officially opens today at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello

Maranello, 26th October – The Ferrari Museum in Maranello today inaugurated the Great Ferraris of Sergio Pininfarina exhibition which focuses on the years during which Sergio, the son of founder Battista "Pinin" Farina, made a pivotal contribution to the creation of the Prancing Horse's most famous models. A collaboration that started in 1952 and which represents one of the great icons of the Made in Italy phenomenon.

Present at the opening were Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo, Paolo Pininfarina, president of the eponymous company, Piero Ferrari and members of the Pininfarina family including the late Sergio's wife, Giorgia.

The exhibition, which runs until January 7th, comprises 22 models, including one-offs of the likes of the extraordinary Pinin, Ferrari's only experimentation with a four-door car, and the 330 GTC Speciale once owned by Lilian, Princess de Rethy of Belgium. The cars in the exhibition are split between three separate, themed halls which tell the story of Pininfarina's work on the racing cars ("Pininfarina and Racing"), the road cars ("Pininfarina and the Grand Tourers") and some of the experimental models bodied by the Turin coachbuilder ("Pininfarina and the Concept Cars"). In addition to the cars, many previously unseen exhibits from the Pininfarina family's private and company collections will also be on display, not least of which is the wooden styling buck of the Modulo concept car.

Also on display are some of the racing cars Pininfarina penned for Ferrari: the 250 LM, Ferrari's last overall winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 500 Mondial and 250 MM berlinettas, the classic 375 MM racer, the spectacular BB Le Mans, the short wheelbase 250 GT Berlinetta in which Stirling Moss won the Tourist Trophy, and the Sigma Formula 1 prototype from 1969.

The 11 road cars in the exhibition are divided between the front-engined berlinettas, such as the 1964 275 GTB4 and the Spider version of the legendary Daytona, the mid-rear-engined models, notably the milestone BB, and the contemporary creative evolution which encompasses, amongst others, the Testarossa and the 599 SA Aperta, the latter a homage by Ferrari to Sergio and Andrea Pininfarina.

The exhibition is open to the public seven days a week from 9.30 am to 6.00 pm, from Saturday, October 27th, to Monday, January 7th (excluding, of course, December 25th and January 1st when the Museum is closed). Tickets may be booked online at www.museoferrari.com, as can guided visits at museo@ferrari.com. The Museum is also opening the doors of the exhibition for private and corporate evenings which can be booked at eventimuseo@ferrari.com. On sale in the Museum is the large-format catalogue which includes a rendering of each of the 100 Ferraris designed by Pininfarina.